Can men successfully claim, as a valid legal defense, that a woman drove him to commit a crime?

Question

Can men successfully claim, as a valid legal defense, that a woman drove him to commit a crime?

Answer 1

No

Answer 2

No, but I've heard crazier defenses used in court.  In fact, I've seen a Pamela Smart-like situation used in court before.  A man was having an affair with a woman, and she told him her husband was beating her.  Eventually, he decided to help her kill him.  He couldn't use it as a defense, but it certainly showed his reasoning.

Answer 3

Only if she was actually driving the getaway car.

Answer 4

They seem to get away with killing their wives for adultery far more than vice versa.

Answer 5

not unless she was holding the gun that she shot your dog with to your head.

Answer 6

Sure they can, it happens all the time with domestic abuse cases.  "She won't shut her mouth, I couldn't stand it anymore."  If a wife is intimidated enough, she will drop the charges and he will get off scot-free.  Do you see that with child assaults?  No you don't.  That's because people think they are more valuable.  My ex husbnad assualted his second wife with an axe.  She pressed charges, and he talked her into dropping them.  He now has no criminal record, and is free to assault someone else.  He's a loose cannon that should not be free to walk the streets.

Answer 7

the verbal abuse has gotten way way out of hand

Answer 8

Didn't really work for Macbeth.

Answer 9

If this is an ethics question, my say is No, it is th mans lack of self control, and he chose all of his lessons for himself, to make himself a better person, and it was his own weakness, not the fault of anyone else, that made him take the steps to commit a crime, or to do anything he knew was wrong.

Answer 10

66666666z- I wasn't aware men can legally kill their wives.  I have yet to hear of a man kill his wife, be found guilty of it, and have a sentencing like Mary Winkler, or any of the several other similar situations I've heard of like that case.

No, they can't claim this.  

Nunya- That's the fault of the women dropping the charges, not the legal system.  The man should be punished, but this isn't the same as women who kill their husbands, are found guilty, and still get off with basically no punishment because "he was controlling."  Plus, I don't see anywhere in that story he got off by saying his wife caused him to do it, which is what this question is about.

Answer 11

Straight line:  He may as well claim that the devil made him do it.

Punchline: (fill in the blank)

Answer 12

Eradicating this spurious defence is what has caused contoversy in the UK. Harriet Harman wanted to remove the 'shagging & nagging' defence relied on by so many men who have murdered their partner/gfriend or wife. At the most base level, to live in a society which up until recently looked sympathetically on a perpetrator who murdered a partner for actual or perceived infidelity is quite shocking.  And to live in a world, where the skewed sexist arguments around nagging wives could be used is frankly barbaric!

And I have yet to hear of a murder victim being able to drop the charges!!  Good Grief!

Answer 13

yea there a new law going around where the situation comes in to place like if a man came in saw his wife having s*x with another man and beat her up they would take te cheating into affect when they sentence him  

Answer 14

No way.

Men are still seen as the more LOGICAL gender. Therefore, everything we do is "on purpose" and we are 100% responsible for our actions.

Women are never responsible for their actions... its always someone elses fault.

REALITY

Answer 15

Shark...the only time I could think you could use that kind of a defense...and I do not promise it would convince a judge or jury...would be in the case of self-defense.  You might be able to wage a civil suit against someone based on that premise.  We are really responsible for our own actions and should realize that if we choose unwisely, there are negative consequences.

Answer 16

A long time ago, there was a thing called the paramour rule, which enabled a man who caught his wife in bed with another man to kill her and be excused because the situation was so provoking.  

Hundreds of years later, the paramour rule also applied to women.

Today, it's considered 2nd degree murder.

Answer 17

sure if someone saw him in the  car with her

Answer 18

You have heard of honor killings haven't you!   And the burning brides in India whose parents won't cough up more dowry!

Answer 19

you can claim anything you want.  But it won't fly in the USA.  Brazil perhaps, with its "defending one's honor, syndrone, which allows men to kill wives with justification.